Kor Haven seems solid but I don't know if I could find a slot for it. Do you run it as a white card?
It's a similar effect to Maze of Ith but I definitely wouldn't put it on the same level; tapping for mana is a nice upgrade but at too steep a cost to the activation.
I played it because I love lands, but eventually cut it for a Karakas, which I pretty much only include for the sweet OG art and a few fringe interactions.
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EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Kor Haven is good. Like Maze of Ith, it's largely a defensive card, but it does a few things that Maze can't do. First, it taps for mana. Second, the creature you target with Haven stays tapped. Lastly, the creature can still take combat damage (so you can turn a trade into a 1-sided result). If you have a way to use the C mana in your cube, it's an easy inclusion. If not, it can be a bit harder to find room for both it and Karakas. I should probably find room for Kor Haven in my 540 list though; card is good.
This guy has been in my cube for a long time and has become a bit of a pet card for me. Combat tricks are really hard to incorporate in cube and I like what briarhorn brings to the table. Its in a weak 4 cmc green slot, can come down early or late thanks to the evoke and the flash often lets him 2 for 1 your opponents attacking creatures by pumping another small guy and providing a decent sized block of his own. Also great just flashing in as a surprise 6/6 blocker himself, or just pumping an unblocked creature for that extra 3 damage.
While he might not crack a lot of peoples cubes on power level. I am always surprised how well briarhorn plays.
Bonus question: Have any of you spent much time back country hiking or being out in the bush?
Briarhorn is a huge pet card of mine. I love having a Giant Growth in cube. Its primary use honestly seems to be to counter Lightning Bolts but finding a variety of uses and interactions keeps it fun IMO. It's just one of those cards I never really want to get rid of, even though I know there are better choices available.
I also ran Briarhorn for several years when first building my cube; it's certainly playable for larger or low-powered environments but it doesn't quite have enough oomph to be worth considering over "top-tier" green 4-drops. If it had Trample it might be a different story but unfortunately I think this guy is relegated to the 720+ card range or budget cubes only.
Most green sections run a lot of elves naturally. If you're running all the usual suspects, he's quite decent. Elves becomes a real, fleshed out archetype with Priest of Titania, Imperious Perfect, and Elvish Archdruid.
Personally, I run an elf subtheme in my 360 unpowered, along with all these elves I mentioned (I don't run any generic mana dorks).
How do you feel about Ezuri? In general, how do you feel about narrow cards that might go undrafted/unplayed if no one at the table is playing the only archetype they fit in? Other examples include Entomb and Phyrexian Obliterator.
i ran a elf subtheme for a long time. but it just didnt have enough power to keep sacrificing slots to it when i moved down to 360. Never tried ezuri in it though. he seems pretty narrow.
I feel like even if I were to run an Elfball subtheme, there are more important cards to include than Ezuri. As you mentioned Imperious Perfect and Elvish Archdruid are both critical to the archetype, which means he's at most the 3rd best Elf tribal 3-drop? And I'm pretty confident there are more options that aren't coming to mind.
Here's an interesting little artifact. It can keep a True-Name Nemesis from beating you down, combos well with Opposition, and it serves as Tinker fodder if nothing else. There's probably some other interactions that escape me. Personally, I don't think it's very good, but it does only cost 1 mana and can be built around which makes it worth discussing IMO. What are your thoughts on Meekstone?
Meekstone can be quite powerful in the right deck, but it really needs to be built around to get it to work. It wound up being too narrow when I tried it in the classic cube. Never tried it in my regular one.
Painful Truths pushes you to play more colors in order to maximize it's effect. I don't currently play it at 360, but it's towards the top of my list if looking for a black draw spell.
Card draw can be a bit boring, even when it's powerful. What's the most interesting draw effect you play?
I'm blanking on the name, but I'd play the 1B draw 2 lose 2 before painful truths and read the bones over painful truths, and I'm not playing either of those. This is so bad until you hit 3 colors.
Edit - my most interesting draw effect is still FoF, even now. Almost always leads to interesting decisions for both players (unless it hits a card that just wins the game).
This Karn has struggled to find its place in constructed formats, but in cube it's a different story. It offers affordable card advantage and bodies to protect itself to midrange decks of any colors. His -2 is even better in the artifact deck, where it can make a giant body, rather than the usual 1/1 or 2/2.
BONUS QUESTION
Colorless cards can be played in any color of deck, but often work better in some colors than others. What colorless cards in your cube are most often played in certain colors?
I like this Karn, I just have been working on acquiring different cards for my cube and have not picked him up yet. On paper he looks really good, but I have 0 hands on experience with him.
Overall, more 0 colorless cards are probably played in grixis since it tends to have a good number of cards that care about artifacts.
It was literally in both of the decks that just made the finals of the World Championship, and sees regular play in Standard's most popular archetype.
It's also used in Modern, played well in Legacy and even has made some Vintage appearances too.
Oh, whoops. I probably shouldn't post about formats I know nothing about when trying to come up with an intro for the card. My standard play is limited to MTG Arena, where I think I've only seen a Karn cast once. I took a quick look at mtggoldfish and missed copies in the sideboard (and sometimes the mainboard) of RB.
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It's a similar effect to Maze of Ith but I definitely wouldn't put it on the same level; tapping for mana is a nice upgrade but at too steep a cost to the activation.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Briarhorn
This guy has been in my cube for a long time and has become a bit of a pet card for me. Combat tricks are really hard to incorporate in cube and I like what briarhorn brings to the table. Its in a weak 4 cmc green slot, can come down early or late thanks to the evoke and the flash often lets him 2 for 1 your opponents attacking creatures by pumping another small guy and providing a decent sized block of his own. Also great just flashing in as a surprise 6/6 blocker himself, or just pumping an unblocked creature for that extra 3 damage.
While he might not crack a lot of peoples cubes on power level. I am always surprised how well briarhorn plays.
Bonus question: Have any of you spent much time back country hiking or being out in the bush?
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Most green sections run a lot of elves naturally. If you're running all the usual suspects, he's quite decent. Elves becomes a real, fleshed out archetype with Priest of Titania, Imperious Perfect, and Elvish Archdruid.
Personally, I run an elf subtheme in my 360 unpowered, along with all these elves I mentioned (I don't run any generic mana dorks).
How do you feel about Ezuri? In general, how do you feel about narrow cards that might go undrafted/unplayed if no one at the table is playing the only archetype they fit in? Other examples include Entomb and Phyrexian Obliterator.
[180 classic cube]
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Here's an interesting little artifact. It can keep a True-Name Nemesis from beating you down, combos well with Opposition, and it serves as Tinker fodder if nothing else. There's probably some other interactions that escape me. Personally, I don't think it's very good, but it does only cost 1 mana and can be built around which makes it worth discussing IMO. What are your thoughts on Meekstone?
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Painful Truths
Painful Truths pushes you to play more colors in order to maximize it's effect. I don't currently play it at 360, but it's towards the top of my list if looking for a black draw spell.
Card draw can be a bit boring, even when it's powerful. What's the most interesting draw effect you play?
Chart a Course is a cool and interesting draw spell. It does a lot of stuff.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Edit - my most interesting draw effect is still FoF, even now. Almost always leads to interesting decisions for both players (unless it hits a card that just wins the game).
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
Karn, Scion of Urza
This Karn has struggled to find its place in constructed formats, but in cube it's a different story. It offers affordable card advantage and bodies to protect itself to midrange decks of any colors. His -2 is even better in the artifact deck, where it can make a giant body, rather than the usual 1/1 or 2/2.
BONUS QUESTION
Colorless cards can be played in any color of deck, but often work better in some colors than others. What colorless cards in your cube are most often played in certain colors?
Overall, more 0 colorless cards are probably played in grixis since it tends to have a good number of cards that care about artifacts.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
It was literally in both of the decks that just made the finals of the World Championship, and sees regular play in Standard's most popular archetype.
It's also used in Modern, played well in Legacy and even has made some Vintage appearances too.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Oh, whoops. I probably shouldn't post about formats I know nothing about when trying to come up with an intro for the card. My standard play is limited to MTG Arena, where I think I've only seen a Karn cast once. I took a quick look at mtggoldfish and missed copies in the sideboard (and sometimes the mainboard) of RB.